• To empower children to make healthy food choices • To strengthen and sustain healthy communities through supporting farmers and cultivating future farmers market supporters • To expand farmers markets from a retail location into a place where children can try new foods and learn about healthy eating
How Does POP Work? Children aged 5 – 12 years are invited to sign up for FREE Upon joining they get a; • POP Passport To Health • POP Club Button • POP Bookmark • Reusable Shopping Bag • Treasure Bag • $2 very special POP Tokens
• On the Opening Day we had 178 kids sign up • By mid-August we had 659 club members • Over 22 markets, having stopped accepting new members in mid-August, we had a total of 1999 POP club member visits
From Parents … “Thank you for making Sundays special for our whole family.” “ Children and parents both learn so much from the vendors. We have created so many new vegetarian dishes with advice from farmers. My children have tried so many new veggies!” “Thank you for being kid -friendly and helping my kids navigate the farmers market so they feel comfortable spending money on good food.” “My favorite part is seeing the joy when my child comes to the market.”
From Children… Why do they like participating in the program? “Pride. I get to give my tomatoes away.” “They have fresh food and we know where the food comes from.” “Because there’s lots of great food that is so tasty and it’s so great at the Farmers Market. I LOVE IT !” Time & time again we heard … POP Club kids are a major driving force in getting adults to market!
What Does It Cost? For 659 members & 1999 visits , purchasing …. • A Canopy & Weights • Banners • No tables & chairs (we had them!) • A Button-Making Machine & Components • Re-usable Club Bags • Treasure Bags • Wooden Tokens • Passports • Posters • Bookmarks • Miscellaneous items • Marketing • Token Reimbursement • No allowance for graphic design or management hours
Challenges • Getting ALL of the farmers on board • Token Use
Handy Hints • Get Started NOW! • Start off simply by introducing the program and then developing the activities/tastings • Take photos, photos & more photos – they are your best marketing tool ever! • Use Facebook – it works!
Resources • Farmers Market Coalition • https://farmersmarketcoalition.org /programs/power-of-produce-pop/ • Password = • Liz Comiskey liz@farmersmarketcoalition.org
THANK YOU!
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